Is the pregen character Obozaya encumbered at level 1?

Question

I am filling official character sheets with Paizo's pregens based on the Beginner Box (but with the core ruleset).

And according to my calculations, Obozaya (Vesk Soldier 1, Mercenary), should be encumbered. Her Strength is 16, so her carrying capacity is 8, her encumbered capacity is 9, and her overburdened capacity is 17.

She carries the following items (that have a volume > L):

• Troop ceremonial plate (volume 3)
• Light reaction cannon (volume 3)
• Tactical doshko (volume 1)
• Field rations for a week (volume 1)
• Hygiene kit (volume 1)

Which sums up to 9! But according to her other stats (Athletics +6, speed 30 ft.), she shouldn't have more penalties than the ones from the armor (which are correctly included). While encumbered, she should have a -5 penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based checks, but the Athletics +6 is clearly calculated with the armor -3 penalty:

1 rank +3 trained class bonus +3 Str mod -3 armor penalty +1 vesk armor expertise +1 mercenary = +6

What am I missing ?

Is worn armor not included in the carrying capacity calculation, or something like that?

Here are the full stats for this pregen character: link

Answer 1

Paizo used the errata'd weight for Hygiene kits

I've double checked all your information and you seem to be right per the original PDF... but not according to the latest information on https://aonsrd.com:

• Ceremonial Plate, Troop - Bulk 3
• Reaction Cannon, Light - Bulk 3
• Doshko, Tactical - Bulk 1
• Field Rations (1 week) - Bulk 1(/week)
• Hygiene Kit - Bulk 1 L
• Personal Comm Unit - Bulk L
• Serum of Healing, mk1 (2) - Bulk L(x2)
• Frag Grenade 1 (2) - Bulk L(x2)
• Shock Grenade (1) - Bulk L
• Heavy Rounds (20) - Bulk L

Oboyaza was carrying 9 Bulk of items and 7 Light items (which round down), but making the Hygiene Kit more compact means she is carrying 8 Bulk and 8 Light (still rounded down). Their Strength score is 16, so they are able to carry the 8 Bulk without being Encumbered.

This is how much bulk your character can carry based on her Strength score. She is encumbered (see page 275) when carrying an amount of bulk greater than half her Strength score, and overburdened (see page 276) when carrying an amount of bulk greater than her total Strength score.

The Errata was a made in the 1st/2nd printing.

Page 231: In Table 7–33: Personal Items, change the bulk of the hygiene kit from “1” to "L".

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I checked for other caveats that might have allowed her to carry all of her stuff before the change.

• Carrying Capacity makes no allowances
• Armor Bulk does not seem to be reduced by wearing it
  • "Bulk: This is the bulk of the item (see page 167)."
• Vesk Armor Savant provides relevant bonuses, but nothing reducing Bulk/Encumbered
• Ceremonial armor is not Powered

So, before the weight change on her toothbrushes, Oboyaza would have had to drop her supply pack any time she wanted to not be Encumbered.